Chronic Itchy Butt

[motherofCHAOS]

hello everyone!
i was wondering if theres anything i could do to help my almost 2 year old redfoot. he (sex unconfirmed) has been rubbing the back part of his shell up against his hide lately and when i pet him he will intentionally turn himself so that im rubbing his behind like he is itchy.

enclosure info: large open air table, he has a hot/moist end and a cool/dry end. i have a humidifier on a timer and i use sphagnum moss so im not so sure its a dryness issue.

Thanks!

 

[MPRC]

Maybe a little coconut oil massage will help.

Also check his tail area for irritants like a splinter or something up inside. My tortoises act strange if they get bark stuck in their leg holes.

 

[Rue]

...lol...leg holes...

 

[MPRC]

...lol...leg holes...

That's the 'super technical' term for it that I came up with after having no coffee today.

 

[motherofCHAOS]

i will check him out and try the oil
thanks a bunch!

 

[CathyNed]

Ya just check there are no splinters or pieces of substrate trapped up under his shell from where he retracted his legs and pulled it in.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

next time you soak him, give him a nice scrub back there. maybe he ribbed on something and has some weird allergic reaction?
do tortoises have allergies?

 

[crimson_lotus]

my tortoise occasionally rubs her butt up against things in her enclosure. When I scratch the back of her shell she sometimes tries to shake me off (or that's what I think, at least)

if you google turtle shaking butt, turtle dancing, etc. you will get a few uh, enthusiastic butt wigglers...

 

[cdmay]

I pretty sure there is absolutely nothing wrong with you tortoises' butt. The scratching behavior you discovered is quite normal...and at time hilarious.
Forget the coconut oil.

 

[Pearly]

I've seen my yearlings rub their sides or backs against something hard. They also stop squirming when their shells and butts are getting rubbed with coco oil and stick their heads up and out. I choose to believe this is letting me know they like it it's both cute and funny when they do that.

 

[jockma]

Mine was obsessed with butt scratches, he's starting to calm down now. Maybe they like it more when they're younger, I usually see the young ones having butt fixations. I would let mine out in the yard and play games on my phone and then suddenly look down and see him rubbing his butt against my feet. He'd do it for, no joke, 10 minutes straight. I didn't know for sure he was male at first and thought it was mating behavior ("mount me") so that's the only reason I discouraged it. Didn't want my baby to go through the heartbreak of unrequited love.

 

[Gillian M]

Oli does it every now and again, but I do not really think it's anything to worry about.

Please post pics of your tort and his/her enclosure. This will help us determine if it's a male/female and tell what species he/she is.

And welcome to the forum!

 

[Ellen & Toby]

I'm so glad it's not just Toby that does this, I couldn't figure out if he was itchy or just being his crazy self

 

[smwboxer]

scent marking, mine do it all the time.

 

[dmmj]

I do not know about the young ones but I'm quite old and I still have butt fixations. Wait nevermind.

 

[Gillian M]

Hi. Tell me please, is your tort still scratching his butt? Hope not.

How about pictures of your tort and his enclosure?

 

[TammyJ]

Mine was obsessed with butt scratches, he's starting to calm down now. Maybe they like it more when they're younger, I usually see the young ones having butt fixations. I would let mine out in the yard and play games on my phone and then suddenly look down and see him rubbing his butt against my feet. He'd do it for, no joke, 10 minutes straight. I didn't know for sure he was male at first and thought it was mating behavior ("mount me") so that's the only reason I discouraged it. Didn't want my baby to go through the heartbreak of unrequited love.

10 minutes straight, eh? Hmmm. Seems like he was not the only one enjoying a good rub...!

 

[Ellen & Toby]

I've only caught Toby doing it a couple of times but it was funny Here is a pic of Toby's enclosure, not quite finished yet but getting there!

 

[jockma]

10 minutes straight, eh? Hmmm. Seems like he was not the only one enjoying a good rub...!

10 minutes straight, not including the times I would run away and he'd chase me down to complete the butt rubbing Please, I was playing musical chairs by myself trying to keep him at bay. He'd chase me so hard sometimes he'd run butt-first!